I'm just gonna go ahead a get this out on the table, so I can spread the backlash out across the entire month, rather than take it in the face all at once (though that might be fun, too):

The Red Album will be in my top 10.

Seriously. I invested a fuck of a lot of energy into this album, giving it every chance, fiddling with the song order, the bonus tracks, listening to it endlessly. It's a part of my 2008, now. Rather refreshing after all these years of being a "serious" music fan to find an album you can love for its faults as well as its triumphs.

Let me also say that I'm as interested in early/incomplete entries, as reminders of what I've been meaning to investigate this year, and still have time to try out.

Fair enough, and though I doubt much on my list will pique your interest, here is my preliminary top 10, which will most likely change in the next couple of weeks and which I hope to expand to a top 20. Many of them I've already said something about in another thread but I'll reiterate a little bit about each album to give you an idea what they're about. Also, maybe I'll edit in some sample links later.

10. Neuraxis - The Thin Line BetweenTechnical death metal with progressive tendencies. I've read that this album is a drop off in quality from previous ones. Since I'm not familiar with their prior output I am blissfully ignorant of its shortcomings.Neuraxis - WickedNeuraxis - The Thin Line Between

« Last Edit: Dec 30, 2008, 11:52:42 PM by YojimboMonkey »

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I just looked at what music I have that was released this year between my CD/vinyl collection and my computer and had to conclude that I have an informed opinion of only a very small portion of what I've amassed this year (this is mostly true for mp3s, of course, but there's also a bunch of things I've bought but not properly listened to). There are a few things that would have fairly secure spots in a year-end list (Tomokawa, Toumani Diabaté, A Weather, tMG come to mind), but somehow, I doubt I'll actually manage to put something together.

Yeah, I only didn't include it because it was my #1 album last year. I hope it makes the final list, though.

Which year is/was it?

And is there a rule about a 2008 release date?

I'm confused.

i think their demo was doing the rounds in 2007 but the album proper didn't come out until this year. but the two basically sound identical as far as i can tell, and have pretty much all the same songs in the same order. so i guess some people put the demo on their 2007 lists and didn't feel like the album release in 2008 was actually new music to them.

Yeah, I only didn't include it because it was my #1 album last year. I hope it makes the final list, though.

Which year is/was it?

And is there a rule about a 2008 release date?

I'm confused.

i think their demo was doing the rounds in 2007 but the album proper didn't come out until this year. but the two basically sound identical as far as i can tell, and have pretty much all the same songs in the same order. so i guess some people put the demo on their 2007 lists and didn't feel like the album release in 2008 was actually new music to them.

Yeah, it was self-released and was basically a proper album. The tracklisting only differs by one song from the s/t album they released this year, and even the production is pretty much the same. If I did a blind test you'd have a hard time picking out which versions were on which album, and even distinguishing between them. They are that close. I would feel differently if it came out in like Dec 07 or something, but I think I had it in like February. I just feel like I've listened to so much music since then. Also there's the sticky practical issue of "Where do I put an album that's almost identical to my #1 2007 album on this list?"

There's not a hard-and-fast rule, I definitely do not want to get into policing what counts as 2008. There's this huge/hilarious flamewar going on in the Waffles 2008 thread about whether that Bon Iver album counts (I guess it was technically self-released in 2007 and only actually released this year).

Anyway, looking forward to reading all these lists, I'll take a few weeks to have mine ready, because right now, I only know n°1, pretty much.

Damn it, I was banking on no one actually remembering what I say. But yeah, I shouldn't judge albums after just one listen, let's put it that way.

Well, you did say "five or six listens" in that thread, hehe. Really, it's just funny that I defended that album at the time and it's going to end up much lower on my list than on yours. Glad you ended up liking it, though.

There's not a hard-and-fast rule, I definitely do not want to get into policing what counts as 2008. There's this huge/hilarious flamewar going on in the Waffles 2008 thread about whether that Bon Iver album counts (I guess it was technically self-released in 2007 and only actually released this year).

For me, it's more a case that much of the music I buy in any given year can be quite old. I suspect if I think it's new enough, even if it's not 2008, it'll be in with a shout.